U.S. District Court

Where the defendant principals of two codefendant entities in the physical therapy business have moved to dismiss a plaintiff insurance company’s complaint, the dismissal motion must be allowed as to the insurer’s contract claims but otherwise denied.

Where a defendant construction company has moved to dismiss a misrepresentation claim asserted in connection with a dispute concerning the construction of a residence on Nantucket, the plaintiff’s failure to plead misrepresentation with sufficient particularity requires that the dismissal motion be allowed.

Where a plaintiff brought suit after an altercation with an off-duty police officer, there exists a genuine issue of material fact as to whether excessive force was used, so the defendants are not entitled to summary judgment on the intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery claims, nor are they entitled to summary judgment on the plaintiff’s Massachusetts Civil Rights Act claims.

Where the plaintiff’s father died while in the custody of the Peabody Police Department, the defendants — chief of police, the department and four individual officers — are entitled to summary judgment on all of the plaintiff’s 42 U.S.C. §1983 claims as well as her claims of negligence and false imprisonment under state law.

Where the city of Quincy requires all contractors bidding on city construction projects to maintain an apprenticeship program approved by the Massachusetts Division of Apprentice Training, that requirement is preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Where the plaintiff, an attorney licensed in Rhode Island and Connecticut but not Massachusetts, seeks to prosecute his wife’s medical malpractice claims on a pro se basis together with his personal claim for loss of consortium, a bifurcated trial is in order.

Where the petitioner, who was convicted of second-degree felony murder, has filed a petition for habeas relief, the petitioner’s claims of ineffective assistance on the part of both trial and appellate counsel are procedurally defaulted, and as a result, the petition must be denied.

Where (1) the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal was denied and (2) he was subsequently convicted of wire fraud, his renewed motion for judgment of acquittal and his motion for a new trial must also be denied.

Where the Securities and Exchange Commission brought an action against a defendant company based in the People’s Republic of China, as well as two Virgin Islands companies and a number of individuals residing in China, alleging multiple counts of securities fraud, the defendant is not entitled to dismissal for lack of venue, nor a transfer of the case to the Southern District of New York.